


Kisses

by NorthernSerpent



Series: Falice: From A to Z [11]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 4 Things, F/M, Time Skips, references to postpartum depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 06:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16131851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernSerpent/pseuds/NorthernSerpent
Summary: 4 random times Alice kisses FP .





	Kisses

_ “It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul. _ “

\- Judy Garland

* * *

 

 

**_**_i. so let’s set the world on fire / we can burn brighter than the sun_ ** _ **

 

  
  


They're 16 at a party being hosted by the Blossom Twins at that creepy mansion at the top of the hill. Flyers had been not-so-discreetly distributed earlier that day and every teenager in Riverdale (and probably the surrounding area) is now in attendance. The prized House of Blossom is the epitome of debauchery tonight. They’re surrounded by couples grinding on each other in a drunken haze, some disappearing into one of the many empty rooms. Hell, even the pockets of FP’s letterman jacket are lined with dimebags of weed that are quickly being replaced by bank notes. 

To be fair, judging by the leftover powder under Clifford’s nose, FP’s merchandise is some of the tamest merchandise here.

The state-of-the art speaker system is blaring Sir Mix-a-Lot and all the football players are sloshing their red cups as they yell about their love of big butts. A few girls squeal as they receive taps on their rears.

Alice is nowhere near drunk enough to deal with this shit.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” she yells to FP.

FP points to his ears, indicating that he didn’t catch what she said. Alice huffs and motions to the door. He nods in understanding and follows her out the door.

There’s a trampoline off to side that’s being ignored by the dozen other people who also escaped the house. Alice kicks off her shoes and climbs on through the net, bouncing gracefully along the mat. 

FP watches her from the ground and she doesn’t like the way it’s making her stomach flutter. 

“What?” she asks as she jumps a foot up into the sky. She shoots him a pointed glare. “Are you too cool now that you’re on the football team?”

He shakes his head bashfully and kicks his shoes off. 

“I’m super fly,” he smirks with his arms wide open. He leaps up in a bid to impress Alice with a flip, only to land spectacularly on his back. Wads of his hard earned cash fall out of his pocket, gently floating down around them. Alice laughs hysterically, that same kind of laugh that gets milkshake spurting through her nose.

“I can’t believe nobody was here to witness this,” she manages to say between breaths. FP is hopping back and forth trying to grab his bills before the wind takes them. That image alone is enough to set her into another fit of giggles.

“Laugh it up, Al,” he says, unimpressed. “Like you could do any better.”

“I know my limits, FP,” Alice wipes a tear from her eye. He jumps back towards her, and she thinks it’s to grab the bills at her feet.

Instead, he grabs her from under her knees, tackling her and pinning her down against the ever-moving mat.

“FP!” she shrieks.

“No you know how it feels,” FP states triumphantly. Somehow he managed to fall between her legs, with both his hands braced firmly next to her head against the mat.

She’s ready to tear him apart, tell him that it wasn’t funny (even if it kinda sorta was), and that he needs to get off her because the way he’s staring at her is making her stomach twist.

All she has to do is tilt her chin…

Alice feels his weight shift, and she knows he’s pulling back. In that moment, Alice makes a decision, wraps her legs around FP, keeping him firmly where she wants him.

She blames it on the alcohol even though she only had two shots that had worn off hours ago.

FP gazes at her, stunned. She recognizes the uncertainty in his eyes.

“Alice, what are you doing?” his voice is raw and she wonders if that’s because of her. 

“I have no fucking idea,” she admits softly. She’s never come upon a moment like this before so she doesn’t know what to do. She’s running on instinct so Alice lifts her chin, and press her lips firmly against FP’s. She has no idea what to do with her hands so she just holds onto his jacket for dear life.

FP responds enthusiastically which is  reassuring because she doesn’t know if she’s doing this right. It’s all so overwhelming with all the teeth clashing, spit-swapping and every other new sensation running through her body.

They pull away slowly. FP has this goofy grin plastered across his face. 

“You kissed me,” he says, dazed causing Alice to really start questioning his sanity.

“Yes, and you kissed me back,” Alice raises an eyebrow. “Are we going through an entire play-by-play or are you kiss me again?”

FP kisses her again.

 

* * *

 

  
**_**_ii. save me from drowning in the sea_ ** _ **

 

 

They’re 26 and they don’t talk anymore. It’s not that they actively avoid each other or anything. It’s just that they live on opposite ends of town with the train tracks clearly marking the divide in their lives. He once ran into her at the grocery store when Alice’s cart was loaded with vegetables he didn’t recognize and fancy cheese with names he didn’t know how to pronounce. They exchanged a curt nod of acknowledgement and he continued on his merry way with his food stamps burning a hole in his wallet. 

Fred once told him that Alice and Hal had given him a cherry pie when he and Mary moved in next door. FP had gaped at his friend because he insisted that she made it. From scratch. She didn’t even pick it up from Pop’s. 

So yeah he's incredibly perplexed when she seeks him out and knocks on his trailer door in the middle of the afternoon.

“Alice? What are you doing here?”

FP rubs his eyes. No matter how much this feels like a bad mushroom trip, it's definitely her.

She's wearing a matching burgundy tracksuit and her hair is pulled back in a messy knot on the top of her head. There’s a snide remark on the tip of his tongue - something vile about her rags-to-riches life - but one look into her puffy eyes and he can’t bring himself to hurt her anymore. She’s already been crying.

“I'm coming in,” she declares before taking a step past him. She smells like vodka and cigarettes.

“Did you drive?” he asks.

“Of course not. I’m not an idiot.” Alice snorts. “I biked.”

Before shutting the door, FP does a quick scan of outside. It’s easy to spot her bike. It’s the expensive looking one with too many gears that’s begging to be stolen.

“What are you doing here?” he asks again since she hasn’t given him any answers. “What’s going on?”

“No, no, don’t do that,” she frowns. “One of the things I like best about you, FP, is that you never ask any questions.”

Her words sting because they’re true. He never asks questions about a job. He never asked questions about where they stood. It was better to live in ignorance than be given an answer he didn’t like.

“Believe it or not, I’ve grown up a bit,” he points out. It’s been a long time.; it would have been sad if he hadn’t. There’s something she said that peaks his interest. “What else do you like about me?”

It was meant to be in jest. A joke between old friends. But him and Alice had never been  _ just  _ friends.

“You, FP, know  _ exactly _ how to please me.”

Before FP can process what is happening, Alice takes a fistful of his shirt and pulls his lips towards hers. He feels the electrifying brush of her lips across his, and he immediately jumps away. She tastes like fruity cocktails. 

“What the hell, Alice!” he exclaims. “You can’t just waltz into my home and try to seduce me because you’re drunk and horny!”

“Have you suddenly developed a conscious?” Her eyes flash dangerously. “That’s never stopped you before.”

“It’s different now,” he says weakly, running his hand through his hair. “You have a baby.”

“What, so now that I have a baby everything is supposed to change? Newsflash - it hasn’t,” Alice snaps. Every emotion she had been trying to drown is boiling over. “I don’t magically have maternal instincts. Sometimes, I don’t even like my baby. All she does is cry and eat and poop and when it’s done doing that it just stares at me with it’s disproportionally large eyes.”

“Alice…” FP doesn’t know what to say so instead he rests a gentle hand on her shoulder and pulls her close.

“I’ve always been able to convince myself that I did the best I could for my baby,” she sniffles into his chest. “Maybe I’m just that awful.”

“You’re not awful,” he says softly.

She untangles herself from him and wipes away a tear. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I should go.”

He catches her arm before she escapes out the door. “Not like this, you’re not.” She’s drunk and upset and the sun is dancing along the horizon. He doesn’t completely trust her to make it home okay. “I’ll drive you.”

Alice protests the entire time as he tosses her shiny bike in the back of his truck. 

“I’m trying to do the right thing here!” he snaps as he walks around to the driver’s side. She glares at him from the other side, refusing to get in. “We both have families to take care of.”

“You need more than two people to have a family,” she states bitterly and it cuts deep. She crosses her arms defiantly. “You and Gladys are hardly a family. I heard you’re on the outs again.”

“Actually, she’s pregnant,” he shrugs in a an effort to make this as normal as possible. “She’s due in six months. We’ve worked things out.”

“Oh,” she blinks. “Congratulations, FP.” She finally reaches for the door. “I mean it.”

“Alice?” he pauses before turning on the ignition.

“What?”

“We don’t ever have to talk about this again, but promise me you’ll talk to  _ somebody. _ ”

“Fine,” she relents. “I promise. Now take me home.”

They don't talk again for another long while. 

* * *

 

 

**_iii. for you there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do_ **

 

They’re 36 when FP is stabbed by a random tweaked out mugger in broad daylight. Alice gets the call from her hospital insider, the one who calls whenever any known gang members are wheeled in.

There is a collective shudder from the nursing staff when the hurricane named Alice Cooper bursts into the hospital.

“Mrs Cooper,” greets the receptionist sharply. “No statements are being made to the press at this time.”

“I’m not here on business,” Alice says tightly. “I’m here to visit FP Jones.”

The receptionist eyes her warily. She  glances at the computer. “He’s out of surgery. Friends and family only. Are you family?”

Alice glares at her. Was the woman being purposefully obtuse?

The man was stabbed. He needed company. Unfortunately for him, his wife took the kids to visit their Grandparents. At least that was what she heard when she was actively not-eavesdropping on Archie and Betty in the front yard. 

The serpents, for all their talk of unity, apparently only showed up for gang stupidity. Of course it’s entirely possible that they don’t know yet but that doesn’t align with her existing narrative so Alice ignores the thought.

Alice sizes up the woman across the desk and says something she's never said aloud before. “He’s the father of my child.”

“Mrs Cooper, is that really the best you got?” the receptionist rolls her eyes. 

“What? It’s true.” The air around Alice is sizzling. She can’t believe she’s wasting her time having this conversation.

“I don’t care,” sighs the older woman. “I don’t get paid enough for this crap. He’s on the third floor.” 

Alice’s heart stops when she sees him. He lies unconscious, tubes strapped to his body. bandages wrapped around his chest. His heart rate monitor beeping in the background the only indicator that he’s still alive. 

“Oh, FP…” she runs gentle fingers through his mussed hair. His eyes are still firmly shut. “Your family can’t be here right now, so you’ll just have to put up with me.”

She laces her fingers with his and places a gentle kiss on the back of his hand. “Get better, FP. I’m not done with you.”

Later she makes donation towards his hospital bill. She writes if off as a charity contribution and Hal never questions it. 

After all, they take care of their own.

 

* * *

 

 

**_iv. wasn’t looking where I was going / fell into your eyes_ **

 

They’re 46 and they’re both divorced. It’s sometime between in that weird time between afternoon and evening. FP’s legs are tangled in his bedsheets, and her chin is resting on his chest as she traces the jellybean shaped cover-up tattoo over his heart. 

It is in this moment, this exact moment in their post-fucking bliss that FP realizes exactly what Alice means to him.

“I should go soon,” she says softly. “Betty will be home soon.”

He tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you have to?”

“You know I do,” she gently kisses the corner of his mouth. “Rule number 4: no sleepovers,” she reminds him with a gentle tap on the nose. 

“Screw the rules,” he blurts. He can’t help it. She’s so happy and carefree, with that brilliant smile only reserved for him.

Alice tenses. “What?”

It’s already out there so he doubles-down. “Let’s do this for real.”

He had half-jokingly referred to himself as her fuckbuddy after their third lapse in judgement months ago and she hadn’t corrected him. Instead, she unbuttoned her blouse and said, “So fuck me then,  _ Buddy _ .”

He did. Many many times.

FP had been telling herself it’s not love. Mostly because he was never good at love, always managing to fuck it up somehow. 

Yet he was very aware of the fact that at some point during their carefully orchestrated no-strings-attached arrangement, he became very much attached.

“Is this some kind of joke?” she stammers.

“It’s not just sex anymore, Al, and you know it.”

“What would you call it then? Making love?” she crinkles her nose. 

He shrugs. “I mean, it’s a stupid term, but I do love you.”

She stares at him silently for a moment with an astonished look on her face. “Say that again.”

“I love you?” he repeats tentatively, and she closes her eyes, a single tear escaping down her cheek. He wipes it away with his thumb. “What’s wrong? Talk to me, Alice.” 

“I figured that much out, but I never thought I’d hear you say it,” she confesses softly.

“Well I do,” he reaffirms with a nod. “So much.”

“I do too, FP. So much.” 

 


End file.
